Congruence between personal and organizational mission: The role of balanced organizational values

Abstract

The organizational mission is the starting point for all organizational activities, and its definition is traditionally the responsibility of top management. However, more and more authors, reflecting what is seen also in business practice, indicate that a unilateral definition of organizational mission by top management does not produce the expected results, especially if such a defined mission is not aligned with the personal missions of employees. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the connection, even the congruence, between personal and organizational mission, with special emphasis on the key link in this connection: organizational values. In doing so, similarities and differences between personal and organizational missions were considered, and then the benefits of integrating personal and organizational missions for modern organizations were analysed. To achieve congruence between personal and organizational missions, it is very important to create a culture based on well-institutionalized values. Using the mission-based model of organizational values and its four dimensions—stability, progress, self-orientation, and social-orientation—in this article, the analysis of how balanced organizational values can reinforce the connection between the personal mission of employees and the organizational mission has been done.